Great advice and I’m glad to see my plans line up with yours. I probably will make the Iceman specialize phase XCM. I’m not sure why I had that input as Rolling RR.
What is the big diff between HV and Mid Vol?? Have you done the MV programs before???
I did MV for 2 years and tried HV for the first time last 2020/2021 training and racing season. I didn’t know if I could handle HV but was pleasantly surprised. I thought the HV plan was better as it was more volume but less intensity. It’s the intensity not the volume that destroyed me. For build before AT I did switch the Sundays to long z2 though. Now with AT the mid plans may be better but I don’t ever see myself going back to MV plans. I’ve just seen so much improvement with HV.
With AT the HV plans almost seem too easy now. I’m only in week 4 of SSBHV1, but I may add a bit of volume to SSBHV2 if this continues.
If you mean the TR Polarized plans then no. But I’ve trained polarized with a specific focus on accumulating time at LT1 with 1 day of VO2max type work per week and it worked extremely well. I’ll describe the approach and let other argue about if it’s polarized or something else.
I think the major problem with “polarized” is folks cannot readily agree on what it is and finding plans that plot out day by day polarized are not easy to find. You can roll your own Polarized plan simply enough. TR Sustained Power Build MV provides a progression of VO2max that will get you started for the hard day.
Let’s build some blocks:
Block 1 - 6 Weeks: Take the Tuesdays from SPBMV and keep them as Tuesday. Fill in the rest of the days in with good Z2/Z3/LT1 (*) rides. Try to get about 8 hours a week for the first 6 weeks. A long ride helps so if you can get one 2-3 hour ride that’s a plus. Z2 / LT1 won’t crush you so it’s ok to add more but work up over the first 3 months.
Block 2 - take the Saturday VO2max workout from SPB and put them on Tuesdays. Again, fill in with Z2/Z3/LT1. Try to work up into the 10-12 hour a week range.
For future blocks will remain at that 10-12 hour a week target. If you have time, and legs can take it, building up to 15 is a nice target. But don’t go 6 hours to 15 hours. Take some weeks and build up.
Block 3 - keep progressing the VO2max Tuesday but don’t go crazy. 4x5 or 5x5 efforts are plenty. It’s fine to repeat the VO2 workouts and not keep progressing those interval times. I rarely go over 5x5 and often just stick with 4x5 or even 4x4.
That’s 18 weeks and you should feel pretty good.
In the fourth block, I keep the VO2max work about the same but add an additional “hard” day. Typically that will be a Saturday race, or a simulated race, or just a hard ride with good efforts. Depends what I’m doing and how I’m feeling. A simulated race for me would be a Time Trial. An all out 20 min (10 mile) stretch building to perhaps an hour or 25 mile test as the weeks move on.
Notes:
(1) I’m a big fan of tempo riding. There is nothing wrong with some tempo time on long rides as long as you have the hard day(s) sorted and are getting the long LT1 type stuff in.
(2) I also lift 2-3 days a week. Mostly upper body when “in season”
(3) Without a big race goal, I find 4-6 months of structure is about all I want to do. Once I achieve good fitness, I tend to want to use it and will look for fun rides. I typically am “training” for a two week vacation of mountain biking in July. I’ll build into that, go hammer the trails, and then enjoy the heck out of riding Aug-Sept-Oct.
(4) November I will start leg strength again “seriously” and drop VO2max stuff. In the fall I like to get long rides in but it’s “base” and fitness stuff not building toward any other goal.
Appreciate that may not be as specific or programmed as folks need or want. But this type of training has worked extremely well for me in the past. “Worked well” meaning increased MLSS and increased TTE at MLSS with lower RPE. That’s winning for me nowadays!
As an aging (55) and medium talent bike rider / athlete, have found it helps to break the year up into three chunks: hard bike training of 16-20 weeks; have fun with the on bike fitness 8-12 weeks; strength training and base riding 12-16 weeks.
YMMV and I’m not trying to coach anyone, just outlining a simple approach that seems effective and is pretty enjoyable.
-Darth
The OP’s experience is exactly what happened to me two years in a row following the TR plans. The second year I knew what was coming so I got a coach. Myself and many others on this board feel that there is too much intensity in these plans. Especially for those 40+ and if your something like 12+ weeks out from your A event. Anyone that follows this forum knows how much this has been debated.
My recommendation would be take it easy for a week. A zone 2 ride is not a recovery ride. I feel even the TR recovery rides (recess) are too high %FTP. Build your weeks around only 2 intensity sessions and fill remaining days with Z2. Instead of recovery rides just take the day off.
Wow!! Thanks for the advice. I have pondered polarized, listened to many a podcast (numerous with Seiler) but didn’t think it was a year round solution for me… Still don’t know. Wondered if it was a good specialty phase or base phase option for me. With a little bit of VO2 in the base, it seems like it’d make mtb fun rides and B/C races in the spring doable and fall mega VO2 less destructive on the legs which has been my problem. I think as I’m peaking in sept-Oct, I feel so good I blow past the ceilings of the VO2 or threshold workout prescriptions and I fry myself by mid Oct. My key mtb races are late Oct and early Nov. I try to do an ultra mtb or gravel in the summer and then switch to XC mtb races in the fall.
I’ll study and ponder your plan! Thanks again. Any further thoughts based on my info above would still be welcomed.
And this become even worse with AT - as TR uses time constraints when adapting levels and never goes longer, always harder. This is sample week of a SST MV Base 1.
This is basically very hard build, not base. Yes, it is adapted to my levels but like I said - harder not longer.
And it’s basically 6 week of this. No way.
Game changer 
Holy $*!t !! I’ve never seen any levels over 6. Not sure what that means… for me.
Definitely agree that that week looks too hard, I just had a look and it’s very similar for me if I look up SSBMV2. I note the 150+min “Alternates” pulls up some more appropriate Sweet Spot Workouts in the 10+ range.
It’d be definitely beneficial to be able to specify say 120 or 150min available for those days, rather than look up Alternates.
When I am back in Base next Autumn/March-April I’ll likely swap out those for the 90% work from “More Sweet Spot” as I don’t think the spikes within those Redondo etc would help me with fitness increases vs being able to complete the Threshold work.
Build is a lot better this time around with AT though, I’m getting prescribed threshold work I can achieve, but I also know I don’t want to try and spend a bunch of time just over threshold.
So I always wonder how much SS is too much over the winter base phases. Some podcasters say even SS is high intensity. If I did no more than one workout a week that has any ints at or above threshold like it seems like base phases do, is 2-3 SS days too much?? Still focussing on not doing too much and ending up with burned out legs by October when my racing matters.
I’m actually thinking the same with regards to having too much intensity at this time of the year. I’m in the 5th week of SSB low volume, and I’m already at level 6.6 SS workouts twice per week and an over/under threshold workout on saturday. I’m questioning if I really want this much intensity and progression this early - especially since I started strength training a couple of weeks ago. I’m considering just turning the AT off until the season gets closer and just do maintenance work on the bike for now.
I remember a few years ago doing the SSBhv plan (before updated) and it was 5x per week of ss work. T-Th ss workouts and when in the second round of it those T-Th workouts were each two hour sessions and same on Sat & Sun. I remember days thinking “wtf am I doing this and how can I” only to be fine with that work day in and out.
As soon as I got to build, everything went downhill quick. Was a total mess.
I feel I’m a bit smarter with intensity now but I still get sucked in sometimes because it’s “what’s prescribed”. Now in SSBhv1 and being at level 7.5, AT is giving me more than I think is necessary. This week I decided to drop down rather than just keep hitting those harder workouts.
Have you done a ftp test to restart your “base” or are you just trying to build your levels to the point the workouts are ridiculous?
No, I am where my FTP is because I feel where it is from the workouts. I do not use TR plans, just doing normal progression like I always do with workouts I have always done. I just like sometimes to look what what TR would propose me to do, not only in terms of intensity in the workouts but also density in the plan. I basically do not care about this, just showing some “absurd” situations.
Well that has Wednesday as endurance work. Old plans had SS Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday, & Sunday. So consider that plan soft 
But those ss workouts look insane lol
Every single one of them is “just another day in the office” but 4 of them in the week for 5wks (there is no 3+1 structure in base 1) - I wish a good luck, especially that next is base2 - way harder and build (yes I know, if you fail your plan will adapt)
